New Avengers #31

Recent conversations with Tom Grice (who is still WRONG, Sir, WRONG!) have made me think that perhaps I’ve been unfair to Marvel lately. The entire Initiative program rubs me the wrong way, and the interlocking nature of the entire dang Marvel Universe right now does color my perceptions of titles like Omega Flight and New Warriors (though I stand by my blatant excoriation of Illuminati #3 and Loners #3.) Thus, I am going to try and give you a more balanced literary criticism of this issue, purportedly the hook upon which Marvel’s new giant super-crossover hangs. I’ll say this for the issue: I didn’t see any of the reveal coming…

Previously, on New Avengers: With the Civil War lost, their general assassinated, and their actions illegal, the remainder of the Avengers are forced to go underground. Calling on the financial resources of Daniel Rand (Iron Fist) and the mystical resources of Dr. Stephen Strange, they regroup and decide to extricate Maya Lopez from her undercover mission in Tokyo. Before they leave, they are joined by Clint Barton (ex-Hawkeye) who picks up Maya’s mantle of Ronin, though it presumably takes magic to make it fit him. The Mighty Avengers confront them, but even Iron Man can’t penetrate Strange’s magic, and they successfully make it to Tokyo, where they fight Elektra’s hand ninjas for approximately seventeen thousand years. Maya is killed and resurrected by the hand, under Elektra’s control, and guts Dr. Strange with a katana. Meanwhile, back at Strange’s Sanctum Sanctorum, Jessica Jones, her baby and Wong have an awkward moment seconds before all hell breaks loose…

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Wong replies with a hint of panic that the orb is responding to Strange’s commands, showing them what he wants them to see. Jessica is a bit panicked, wondering about Luke and her friends, but Strange merely croaks out a weak noise, presumably a command of some sort for his disciple The Avengers, after seemingly getting kayoed last issue, are all back on their feet, and Spider-Man mockingly assesses, “Wow! Worst slumber party ever.” No one else seems to chare his levity, with Wolverine going so far as to rip any ninjas within arm’s reach to shreds…

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It’s good that somebody remembered that Clint Barton has a problem with wholesale murder. After last issue’s fight, I wasn’t sure if Ronin was taking killshots or not. “Stop giving them ideas!” yells Spider-Man at his female counterpart, as another wave of cannon fodder ninjas attack. Luke Cage has had quite enough of this, grabbing Elektra by the hair, and THROWING HER into a group of ninjas. “You know what? You’re a big pain in the @$$, Elektra! But that IS your rep!” Heh… That’s how you win a fight, you pick one up and kill the others WITH her. He yells to Iron Fist to power up, and Danny smashes his power into the ground, throwing the ninjas off-balance. Spider-Man also goes down, only to see MORE $#&$ing ninjas climbing out of the woodwork.

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Ha! I like that interaction… Hawkeye is one of the few who can hold a candle to Spidey when it comes to the battle quips. Not so very clever is Elektra, who tells Luke, “I’m going to light you on fire.” She calmly strikes a handful of matches, and ignites his shirt, but Cage is tougher than that, striking her away. Spider-Woman and Wolverine try to find a way through the ninjas, and she suggests making a break for it, but Logan says these ninjas will follow. “All the way to AMERICA?” Jessica gapes, and Wolverine just continues killing. “All the way! Ain’t that right, guys?” Meanwhile, in America, Wong has gathered the grimoires his master has asked for, but hasn’t explained a thing to a very frightened Jessica…

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The Doctor… is IN! Strange’s astral form escapes his body, as he pulls the sword from his chest, and with a gesture, puts a horde of the ninjas to sleep. Iron Fist, for his part, has been forced to fight Echo (quite probably, he’s the only one who CAN) and tries to break through her conditioning. “You can fight this! If you’re this good a fighter, they you’ve trained to fight what they’ve DONE to you!” Echo seems to be responding, when Doctor Strange’s astral form passes through her, speaking the words, “You will be free.” Echo screams horribly, eyes nearly bursting out of her head in horror at the realization of what was done to her. “Do you speak Japanese?” enquires Strange. “A little,” says Iron Fist. “Tell them to stand down! Tell them that they cannot win!” Iron Fist looks skeptical… “That’s not your ENTIRE plan, is it?” Heh. Echo looks across a sea of combat, and finds Elektra through the hail of bodies and blades. Moving quickly, she starts killing her way through the room to get to her new hated foe…

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I love Luke’s dialogue here (and also the smoke rising from his body, though I’m not thrilled with his zombie-gray skin.) Maya’s determination is forged by hatred, beyond death, and her focus on the invulnerable man has caused Elektra to make the same error she always makes: she forgets to not get impaled through the gut.

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I still don’t think Echo belongs in this company, and find her a bit Mary Sue-ish, but even I marked out at this moment. Elektra has been such a rat bastard throughout this arc, that the poetic justice of reliving her lowest point entertains me. Wolverine stops fighting, realizing that something is wrong… The ninjas start to retreat, as their leader is dead, but even stranger, Logan doesn’t try to stop them. Spider-Man quips, “Say what you will about the Hand, they either run away or disappear in a puff of stinky smoke. The never leave… a… body…”

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Holy $#!+! Elektra is a SKRULL… The entire team stands stunned, and no one has anything to say. Iron Fist scrapes his jaw off the ground first, and echoes my thoughts. “Oh my god… What… What does this MEAN?” What DOES it mean? We know that Luke believes there’s a conspiracy at work, and we now have proof that at least one major player is not what she seems. Who ELSE could be a Skrull? Maria Hill? Reed Richards? TONY STARK??? What in the heck does this all MEAN? All I know is: I hope it has something to do with Skrull Kill Krew, a book co-written by Mark Millar and Grant Morrison back before they were superstars. Oh, but there’s still one more strange fillip that we should probably touch on…

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AHHHHH! Why does the baby have freaky Skrull eyes??? The child (I shall dub her Power Jewel, in honor of Mommy and Daddy’s superhero identities) can’t be a Skrull unless she was somehow replaced… or unless one of her parents has been replaced! In the words of Matt Kennedy Gould, what is goinnng ooooonnnn??? This is officially the creepiest last panel in the history of the world.

I don’t have the slightest idea what’s going on, but at last, an issue of New Avengers leaves me with questions in a GOOD way. There was enough plot motion here that the introduction of new mysteries worked better for me. I’m tired of talking about Leinil Yu’s art, save to say that I don’t care for it, and that his females get scarier every issue (witness Devil Jessica’s bleeding eyes in the panel up top.) Bendis delivered the goods this time around, with the nice Hawkeye/Spider-Man exchange, Wolverine’s personal vendetta against the Hand, Skrullektra’s Wile E. Coyote attacks on Luke, even with Jessica and Wong’s uncomfortable co-existence. After about five issues of nothing much, New Avengers #31 delivers a 4 out of 5 star punch this time around. But seriously, WHAT THE #&*$?

The Author

Matthew Peterson

Once upon a time, there was a young nerd from the Midwest, who loved Matter-Eater Lad and the McKenzie Brothers... If pop culture were a maze, Matthew would be the Minotaur at its center. Were it a mall, he'd be the Food Court. Were it a parking lot, he’d be the distant Cart Corral where the weird kids gather to smoke, but that’s not important right now... Matthew enjoys body surfing (so long as the bodies are fresh), writing in the third person, and dark-eyed women. Amongst his weaponry are such diverse elements as: Fear! Surprise! Ruthless efficiency! An almost fanatical devotion to pop culture!

48 Comments

Again, what the $^*@. I can’t even begin to comprehend what this issue means for the marvel U.The only thing I can figure is that Jessica is the Skrull of the two. How else would a mother be able to ignore her child’s terrifiyng eyes. I’m not an expert on skrull, but I would imagine that they don’t breast feed. That could explain her surprise to Wongs question. Also I’m a little bummed that it wasn’t really Elektra who got skewered.

How deep does the Skrull infiltration go? Is it as deep as “sleeper agents” who actually think they’re the humans that they’re replacing and will completely forget their Skrull existence until activated? Is this…wait that’s the plot of Battlestar Galactica, that can’t be right…

RIGHT?

God I hope not. That Skrull impersonating Elektra was fully actin’ like Elektra. And if the Hand Ninjas were magic users as well…

Freakin’ Illuminati.

Hulk’s going to “die” saving the world and regress into “The Fugitive” Bruce Banner from the TV show and the 70’s.

I was stunned by the big Skrull reveal. Bravo. This title has finally made me realize the badassness of Dr. Strange. This dude conjures a spell, releases his astral form, and starts killing ninjas. Wow. I too loved the battle quips between Ronin & Spidey. If you had told me what was going to happen in this issue six months ago I would have laughed at you. Damn. A Skrull! It’s good to see some intergalacticness in another title other than Incredible Hulk.

Remember Luke’s ‘Conspiracy’ Monologue? He was kind of saying it…while holding the baby…

Also, we can clearly see the Kid’s wide-open eyes aren’t green in that issue. Could Jessica have been feeding it Skrull Milk, planted in the Store for Luke to pick up by Skrull spies? CoulD they be infiltrating the system purely through an innocent child?

SKRULLS ???!!!! that’s how they’re going to explain their (Marvel’s)Civil War mess ? crap ! Not that it could not make sense but come on SKRULLS !! that just sounds like a cheap plot … as for the last panel,i wouldnt have gone for creepy (well,a bit!!)but more along ridiculous..a baby skrull,how can that be a threat ?are we supposed to be scared that he will beat the crap out of Wolvie with his toddler’s toys till he dies or asphixiate Spidey with the toxic smell of his diapers or drive Iron-fist crazy with his ghostly cries !!

I agree the breast feeding thing is a big hint considering the ending. Jessica must be the skrull, if either parent is, since it makes little sense that if her husband is he fights the Elketra skrull. I wonder why she wouldn’t stab Wong in the back before he saves Strange though. I’m starting to reconsider cancelling my order of New Avengers a few months ago.

The strangest thing was that just the other week I started thinking about how a shape shifter could especially spy on people if they replaced a baby, except I went further by having them replace a fetus.

I agree the breast feeding thing is a big hint considering the ending. Jessica must be the skrull, if either parent is, since it makes little sense that if her husband is he fights the Elektra skrull.

There’s also the possibility that Jessica and/or little Power Jewel have been replaced AFTER their arrival at the mansion (since Strange’s spell in a previous issue would theoretically have shown if their motives weren’t pure…)

Not that it could not make sense but come on SKRULLS !! that just sounds like a cheap plot …

“I know, it sounds like a bad movie…”

*glances nervously at the audience and continues*

Remember Luke’s ‘Conspiracy’ Monologue? He was kind of saying it…while holding the baby…

Also, we can clearly see the Kid’s wide-open eyes aren’t green in that issue.

Oooh, now that’s interesting…

i mean mayb thats why tony got all dictator on us, but then again that would be just cliche, marvel wouldnt do that! or would they…dum dum dum!!

That is the question, isn’t it? Can they do a standard-issue aliens plotline without turning into a parody of itself? Or are the Skrulls just a red herring?

I don’t know what any of this means, loyal Spoilerites, but factor this in: We still don’t know who caused the breakout at the Vault. We don’t know who has been manipulating and possibly infiltrating both SHIELD and Hydra. We don’t know why Tony Stark and Captain America, both rational men, turned into knee-jerk reactionaries.

Most importantly, if there IS a Skrull invasion… WE DON’T KNOW WHO IS AND ISN’T ONE OF THEM. Jessica Jones? Jessica Drew? Luke? Peter? Aunt May? I suspect we have a few talking points, here.

I’ve seen theories elsewhere that point to Reed Richards as possibly being a Skrull. Evidence to support this theory was in World War Hulk #1, when Reed and Tony are talking to the Sentry and Reed looks like he’s smirking menacingly.

For the record, I told Mr. Tom Grice a month ago. He should’ve told you and, thus, you should’ve seen it coming. If he didn’t, he’s a bad boss and he should leave the store entirely by sometime early in the fall.

Right now, here’s how I predict this is going to go down: 1) The Skrulls have infiltrated the Illuminati (sometime around Illuminati #1), and influenced the decision to get Hulk off-planet. They knew they couldn’t hope to stop the Jade Giant, so they got rid of him. The turning point in World War Hulk is going to be when the infiltrator is discovered and the facts of what happened are revealed to Hulk, and he stops blaming the Illuminati for what happened and turns on the Skrulls.

2) Nick Fury left SHIELD because he discovered it, and knew that the Skrulls had already inflitrated the upper echelons of SHIELD and the government, but couldn’t do anything about it.

3) Tony Stark is NOT a Skrull. Maria Hill and the mother from Stamford, however, are and, as they had in Illuminati, they knew which of Tony’s buttons to push to get him to do just exactly what they’d wanted him to do.

4) Peter Parker will use the ‘everyone is a Skrull’ opportunity to re-mask, claiming that he really ISN’T Spider-Man but that some Skrull posing as Spider-Man set him up and forced he and his family to go on the run.

5) Captain America isn’t dead, but he also wasn’t a Skrull. The corpse that was thought to be his, however, was and that’s why it devolved in a manner SHIELD didn’t expect and couldn’t explain. Cap is alive, and recovering, and he was taken from the hospital by Nick Fury’s people.

6) Jessica Jones is the Skrull responsible for keeping tabs on the New Avengers. You haven’t noticed how, despite being a former super-heroine, she hasn’t seem to have displayed any powers at all since way back before Civil War … ?

JacinB: Good theory. It would also make sense for a Skrull to have imitated Mr. Fantastic since–as in their first appearance–a Skrull can do the Mr. Fantastic thing pretty much at will and would have the alien technology to fake being that smart. And since it’s an “homage” it’s safe to rip off for the Quesadamites.

I’m not sure what you mean by tired. It certainly isn’t something they’ve done recently, and if it pans out to be the conspiracy that they’ve hinted at it being, then it could be really interesting. For me, I was shocked and intrigued by it. Don’t know where it’s going, but at least New Avengers is now going SOMEWHERE…

For the record, I told Mr. Tom Grice a month ago. He should’ve told you and, thus, you should’ve seen it coming. If he didn’t, he’s a bad boss and he should leave the store entirely by sometime early in the fall.

You may not be familiar with it, so here’s our SpokesLegionnaire, Blok, to enunciate Major Spoilers Rule #1:

I they do use the Skrull angle to take everything back to square 1 next year, then I’m done with Marvel 616 for at least 5 to 6 years. Seriously, I’m really going to be upset that they F.U.-ed the 616 just to take me back in a year. I rather have them fix the stupid Initiative than do this.

I really hope they don’t put Peter back in the mask cheaply by using the skrulls since I feel in would invalidate some of the stories in his current books. I’ve really enjoyed seeing some of the people in Peter’s like step up to defend him. The recent FNSM had Robbie practically shouting at JJ for speculating that Peter attacked a cop. If he is re-masked this way, it’ll just come off cheesy.

I really don’t mind the Skrull angle – for me it makes a lot of sense in explaining the chaos that has happened in Marvel the last couple of years. Of course I don’t read 616 titles, I spend my time in the Ultimate universe.

I really don’t mind the Skrull angle – for me it makes a lot of sense in explaining the chaos that has happened in Marvel the last couple of years.

I agree. At first it seems like a cop-out, but at least it is a logical reason for all the madness. Better than just blaming it on “other Earths” like DC. I like DC, but all these damned Earths make for an easy explanation for just about anything.

I agree. At first it seems like a cop-out, but at least it is a logical reason for all the madness. Better than just blaming it on “other Earths” like DC. I like DC, but all these damned Earths make for an easy explanation for just about anything.

Actually, we don’t blame everything on the Multiverse – we now blame everything on Superboy Prime Punch.

Marvel says it would be a real cop-op for them to do the whole Skrull angle as a way of explaining everything. They didn’t say they weren’t going to do it, they just said it would be a real cop-op. Of course if this were the DC universe it would be Starro.

Hey maybe the next DC/Marvel crossover could be the Skrulls being used by Starro and 616 needs New Earth to help fix everything… how awesome would that be?

FACT: Young Avenger, has a skull-half breed on the team. ????? FACT: Runaways, has a super-skull on there team. ????? FACT: THE HULK can see through elements of deception, and ghostly figures. ?!?!? FACT: The Black panther from day one said that the Illuminati would never work and has NEVER saw eye to eye with Tony Stark A.K.A. IRON MAN. !!!!!

AND THE NUMBER ONE FACT: ALL PLANS OF AN INVASION NICK FURY MUST HAVE KNOW SOMETHING LONG IN ADVANCE. !!!!!!!!!!!!!

I was WRONG! But, if I am always wrong and I say I was wrong that makes me right but I am always wrong so I cannot be right which makes me wrong and therefore rightbut I cannot…veeger, veeger, veeger BANG (JacinB and Matthew’s heads explode)

And for the record I DON’T post everyone’s wacky theories because most of the time they are crazy. But I will give the devil his due, Jacin nailed this one.

Expanding the speculation and my predictions: 7) Tony knows about the Skrulls. Nick Fury told him sometime shortly after the events in Spider-Man where Tony goes to Capitol Hill to speak out against the SHRA. Tony realizes, at that point, that he can’t trust anyone and he can’t tell anyone what he knows without risking tipping the Skrulls off to the fact that the Earthlings are on to their plot.

That explains his sudden shift in positions on the SHRA.

He realized that a large portion of the earth’s population of superhumans had been wiped out due to House of M. He needed to assemble an army, assemble it fast, train it, and get a list of EVERYONE who might be able to help in the coming fight. The SHRA allowed him to do just that.

Further, it made the Skrulls in place in SHIELD and the government think that he had willingly but unknowingly sided with them, as they were encouraging the SHRA to split the superhero community and distract them while the invasion continued. Tony, however, had already turned the game on them. He was playing along, at that point, to get what he needed to defeat them.

8) Tony already suspects Reed isn’t who he claims to be. Notice how Tony’s always got read ‘examining’ the new Skrull technology they discover? You think that maybe he’s not trying to figure out just how much Reed already knows about the tech?

9) Cap? Cap was an unexpected casualty in Tony’s goal of saving the planet. Tony might’ve inadvertantly set up the situation to allow him to get shot, but Tony didn’t let him die. He’s the one who coordinated the switching of the bodies, allowing Nick to take him underground. You see how long they’ve had a fake body? It’s been since, at least, the New Avengers where he’d tricked them into getting onto the Helicarrier to ‘save’ Cap.

Has there ever been any indication that it was EVER really Cap’s body that Tony took into the Helicarrier’s morgue? Wolverine’s sniffer supposedly confirmed it, but we’ve just seen that Wolverine’s sniffer ain’t real good at sniffing this guys out anymore, as he couldn’t figure out that Elektra wasn’t Elektra until Echo splayed her innards all over the floor.

Has there ever been any indication that it was EVER really Cap’s body that Tony took into the Helicarrier’s morgue? Wolverine’s sniffer supposedly confirmed it, but we’ve just seen that Wolverine’s sniffer ain’t real good at sniffing this guys out anymore, as he couldn’t figure out that Elektra wasn’t Elektra until Echo splayed her innards all over the floor.

If a Skrull can duplicate Elektra well enough to duplicate her fighting style, her body (hasn’t Logan seen her naked, after all?) and to dupe everyone, who’s to say they can’t also duplicate her specific scent?

As for the Cap body, they did not ever show the moments between “dead in the public morgue” and “dried out husk in Tony’s care.” Brubaker claims that’s irrelevant, but the whole think practically reeks of duplicity to me.